Abstract

[Extract] Imagine being the mother of a young autistic boy, whose violent outbursts had caused
$30,000 of damage to your rented home - but being too afraid to ask anyone for help for fear
of having your son taken away.

That was one of the stories shared with us as we travelled around Melbourne and country
Victoria over the past 18 months, putting together a new report released today as part of
Australia's first comprehensive study of Indigenous civil and family law needs.

While most Australians are well aware of entrenched criminal justice issues facing Indigenous
men and women, such as the disproportionately high rates of imprisonment, our new research
shows that those legal problems go well beyond police and prisons.